Kairos 29: Deadly Tactics

Autumn was the season of storms.

A merchant galley usually took nine days to travel from Travia to Achlys. Rhadamanthe estimated it would take six with the Foresight, whose oars could swing day and night without rest. A thunderstorm almost delayed the ship but Kairos’ [Seamanship] Skill warned the captain ahead of time, and Andromache had altered the weather with her magic.

Their ship had left the high sea and entered the peaceful Achlysian waters. So peaceful, in fact, that Kairos’ [Monster Lure] Skill didn’t draw any sea horror to the Foresight. The merfolk empire of Orichalcos ruled the region’s depths, chasing away sea monsters and their Cetae rivals.

When at long last, Rook returned from his scouting to announce that they would reach land by twilight, Kairos emerged from below deck to see this for himself. He found Cassandra looking from the bow, and Tiberius assisting Rhadamanthe with his research. Nessus had climbed atop the mast to take a sniping position. Only Thales had stayed in Histria, to help with the town’s development.

As he walked on the deck, carrying a magical spear strapped to his back, a ceremonial sword around his belt, and an Achlysian ring on his left hand, Kairos examined his warriors. It had been months since the Pelopidas raid, and so many things changed in the meantime.

Like Theseus’ mythical ship, the Foresight had changed piece by piece, a sailor taking another’s place. Though Kairos took eighty raiders to Achlys, only half of them carried from Uncle Panos’ tenure as captain. The others came from various horizons: Travians that Kairos hired after he took over, or colonists who settled in Histria later; Lycean warriors hired by Dispater to protect his son Tiberius or sworn to Julia; and freed helots from Boeotia.

The realization filled Kairos with melancholy. Many members of the old guard had perished against Lysander’s fleet, or became tributary captains. Most of the rowers left once the Foresight started moving by itself, settling down back in Histria. They would enjoy the peaceful life they could never get as pirates.

The crew had changed with the seasons. Summer had ended, and soon a harsh winter would follow in autumn’s wake. Monsters would migrate south, causing trouble across the northern seas; neither Travia nor the Thessalan League would be spared, which should delay the coming war.

The blood would flow in spring.

“Kairos,” Cassandra said upon noticing her captain. She sat at the bow, watching the sea while polishing her sword. “I see you carry my blade.”

Kairos glanced at the ceremonial sword around his belt, a griffin motif carved into the pommel. It was short, almost a dagger; enough to count as one for his [Knife Fighting] Skill, which suited him just fine. The raider had it coated with poison, as always. “You gave it to defend myself, not to decorate my tent.”

“I did,” his first mate replied, her eyes wandering to the sea. “I admit I’m glad to return to adventuring, truth be told. I’ve nothing against Histria or Lyce, but I feel more at home at sea.”

“Don’t you want a vessel of your own?” Kairos asked. “Now we have the means to give you your personal warship.”

“Nah, you will drown without me,” she replied playfully. “You need someone to keep you grounded on land.”

Indeed. “Can I sit next to you?”

Cass chuckled. “It’s your ship, Kairos. You can sit anywhere you want.”

Kairos sat at the bow next to his first mate, though their awkward smiles faltered. They had danced around this conversation, none knowing how to breach it. Eventually, Cassandra broke the silence first.

“Kairos,” she said, her voice shaking. “Is there any chance for us?”

Us. Such a small, heavy word.

“If it was just us or Julia, yes,” Kairos admitted. “Though you’re older than me, I…”

“You had a crush on me?” she teased him.

“Yes. Even before Uncle...” Kairos shook his head. “You’re smart, beautiful, loyal… everything I looked for in a first mate, and a mate, period. If it was only up to me, I would have bedded you tonight and married you on the morrow.”

“Bold of you to think I would let you get away with the good part before the hard one,” Cass said with a sad smirk, though it quickly vanished. “But it’s not up to you alone anymore. You have Andromache.”

“Yes. I committed to her, and my marital situation already hurts her enough. I don’t want to demean her further by forcing her to share with more women. I owe her that much.”

Cass looked away. “Do you love her?”

“I think I do.” As much as someone like Kairos, who put his ambitions above all else, could love someone. “I will officially take her as my concubine when my situation allows it. Perhaps we might have children down the line.”

“You’re on your way to,” Cass teased him. “The two of you have been glued together each night since we left Histria.”

The whole crew had seen Andromache sharing the captain’s tent whenever they stopped on an island for the night, and the Scylla didn’t bother to hide their relationship anymore. Julia might rule on land, but at sea, the witch was Kairos’ queen.

“Scyllas are sterile,” Kairos confessed. Circe denied her victims any opportunity to alleviate their burden. “Another reason to lift that curse.”

Cass didn’t answer, her gaze lost in the horizon. She didn’t seem angry or sad. Only resigned.

“I’m sorry,” Kairos apologized.

“I had to play to win,” Cassandra said, remembering Julia’s words. “I didn’t take action when I needed to, and I lost. I can only blame myself.”

“You’ll still be the aunt I never had,” the captain tried to reassure her. “And my closest confidant. I will always take care of you, no matter what may come. Even if you grow old and sick, my home will remain yours.”

“Thanks,” Cass said, though she didn’t hide her disappointment. She glanced at the bright sun with longing. “Once upon a time, I dreamed that I would circle the world with your uncle. Sail from one side of the Sunsea, and come back from the other side.”

“We can still fulfill that dream.”

“After we fulfill yours first,” Cass said, more grounded than her captain. “It will be hard enough as it is. I swore my sword to your ambitions, and I will stay true to my oath.”

Kairos smiled back, before noticing a shape in the waters near the bow. A graceful maiden with tentacles for legs discreetly spied on them by raising her ears above the waves.

Andromache.

Kairos assumed she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Cassandra out of jealousy, perhaps worrying the captain would make advances on his first mate. If so, he hoped to have dispelled her doubts.

Andromache emerged from the waters in Scylla form, and climbed onto the Foresight deck as a human. She didn’t bother to hide her nudity, only keeping the lion teeth’s necklace around her neck. She looked at Cassandra with a conflicted face, hesitating between skepticism and gratitude. The Scylla still had doubts, but she wanted to trust the other woman.

In the end, Andromache dared to hope again.

“Thank you, Cassandra.” The Scylla greeted the warrior with a formal bow, saltwater falling from her perfect skin. “I shall not forget this kindness.”

Cassandra chuckled playfully. “What have you done to the real Andromache, to say such nice things?”

“I… my words are genuine,” Andromache said, clearly uneasy. After having defaulted to threatening almost every human she encountered, she had trouble expressing niceness. “You have done a sacrifice on my behalf, and it shall not go unappreciated.”

“It’s fine, but don’t you dare hurt him,” Cass warned the witch, behaving like a true aunt. “Invulnerability or not, I will find a way around it if you make me regret my decision.”

“I gave my other half no reasons to complain, I assure you.” After putting on a chiton dress, Andromache sat at Kairos’ side and rested against his chest. The captain put a hand around her shoulder, smelling the scent of saltwater in her hair, sensing her hands move to his thighs. She was warm to the touch, and he heard her heartbeat echo his own.

Cassandra looked at the couple with a mix of envy and fondness. “You are wholesome together.”

“You caught us on a good day,” Kairos mused. “Sometimes, we summon storms.”

“Only because you do not listen to my wisdom,” Andromache replied, her smile showing her fangs. “You are a clever child, Kairos, but a child nonetheless. You should have slapped him more often, Cassandra.”

“I could never teach him prudence,” the first mate replied, gazing at the waves. “What did you find in the depths?”

Andromache scowled in response. “A grave," she whispered. "The seafloor abounds with shipwrecks, a hundred wooden tombs. Jason claimed many victims.”

Kairos’ hands tensed up. His lover sensed his unease and took his fingers into her own, her touch soft and warm. “How could you be sure it was his work?” he asked Andromache. “It could be wrecks from previous conflicts. Lyce and Achlys fought many battles.”

Her response chilled him to the bone. “There were no corpses down there, my other half. No corpses.”

The dead had risen.

“So the Argo prowls these waters,” Cassandra guessed, her eyes hardening. “I figured as much. We should have crossed paths with merchant galleys by now, or a sorcerer ship. I think the Achlys ambassador underplayed how much of a problem the Argo has been to local trade.”

“Scavengers lurk below the waves, stealing treasures and looting the wrecks,” Andromache said. “Most ran at my coming, but I sensed one trailing me.”

“Merfolk?” Cassandra asked, the Scylla answering with a nod. “Anything of value among the wrecks?”

Andromache shook her head. “We are too late. Sea vultures already took their toll.”

Land finally came within sight soon afterward. Achlys was a large island smaller than Travia, a vast landmass covered in lush rainforests and glittering sand beaches. A chain of five mountains of various sizes at its center reminded Kairos of the drowned Gaia’s fingers reaching for the skies.

The island looked like a peaceful haven at first glance, but the Foresight’s captain grew uneasy the more he observed it. Achlys' woods were so dark, that though he noticed movements in the tall grass, the captain couldn’t distinguish the cause. Perhaps it was the warm autumn wind, or amazons observing the Foresight sailing close to their shores. The strange trees were thick and strong like city gates, the flowers growing beneath them larger than hunting hounds. Teal growths and pink buds exuded a purple mist in some spots, the corpses of large monkeys and panthers rotting near them.

Kairos’ [Poison Brewer] immediately identified half of the plants within sight as dangerously poisonous. The island’s lush exterior only hid the lethal cruelty underneath. Even stranger, the Foresight’s crew didn’t cross paths with any fishing hamlet as it sailed near the coast. Kairos could have mistaken this place for an unexplored island.

Andromache scowled at the sight. “This place used to be Aeaea,” the witch said with an angry growl. “I recognize the spell protecting it.”

“Circe’s island?” Kairos asked, astonished. “Didn’t it sink during the Anthropomachia?”

“Powerful magic shielded this cursed land, and let it rise above the sea,” Andromache said with an angry hiss. “The whore is gone, but her work remains.”

“Is Circe truly dead?” Cassandra asked with a frown. “The amazons are ruled by a sisterhood of witches called the Daughters of Circe. Their leader is a [Demigoddess] said to be the witch-queen herself.”

Andromache snorted. “Circe perished. Orgonos devoured her during the Anthropomachia to ascend to [God], before slaying Hecate in a sorcerer duel so none may contest his rulership of magic.”

“I thought as much,” Cassandra said. “Only the Daughters are allowed to see their mistress, if she even exists. Still, the witches wield great power. Men are forbidden to set a foot on Achlys, and if they do, a powerful [Curse] transforms them into beasts. Even Lyce’s spellcasters never found a way to lift it.”

“Is this the same magic that makes amazons always give birth to women?” Kairos asked. “How does it fit with husband raids?”

As they only gave birth to women, Amazons and the witches of Achlys usually captured husbands abroad. Some went willingly, but in most cases Achlysians abducted strong males as breeding stock. Even a few [Heroes] ended their life in captivity.

“The beast curse must spare a few,” Andromache guessed. “Or the witches have a Legendary Item that can cure its victims.”

Kairos raised his eyes, noticing Horace and four Stymphalian birds returning to the Foresight. The Travian warlord had decided to bring these birds with him on the trip, to help Rook with the scouting and provide aerial support.

“So?” the captain asked, as the birds landed on the deck.

“I took an arrow when I approached the shores,” Horace whined, pointing at his chest with his beak. The bird didn’t have any wounds. “My feathers repelled the projectile, but I smelled poison on the tip.”

“We are not welcome,” Kairos said with a frown. 

“The Achlysians only allow trade on the smaller island of Moros, where their curse holds no sway," Cassandra explained. "Maybe we can reach it by nightfall.”

Her tone had wavered at the maybe. Even with two [Heroes] at her back, Cassandra doubted she could complete her Quest.

“I saw great marble shrines deeper inland, but they belong to a rival flock,” Horace continued. “They would have torn us apart if we moved too close.”

“Stymphalian birds fight for territory?” Kairos asked, surprised.

“We do not share,” Horace replied.

“These cousins protect the temples,” another bird said.

“The old god Ares often bound these birds to his shrines as guardians,” Andromache explained, licking her lips. “Perhaps I should visit these daughters and their false mother after we return that fool Jason to Tartarus. They must possess interesting witchcraft, to coexist with these feathered furies.”

“Perhaps,” Kairos said, before focusing on Horace. “Anything else?”

“A small human nest on a rock island up north, with black walls and the smell of spice.” Probably the island of Moros. “A Karkinos also nests in a cove near our location.”

This didn’t worry Kairos. Karkinoi were giant crabs of tremendous size and strength. But while dangerous, they stuck to coasts and didn’t pursue ships into high waters. Maybe the captain could even use it to his advantage.

Still, it surprised him that Achlys had so few settlements to speak of. Cassandra must have picked up on his confusion, because she decided to enlighten him. “Achlysians use illusion magic to hide their villages, and they disdain the coasts in favor of the forests inland. Although their island is smaller than Travia, Achlys is twice more populated.”

“You visited Achlys in the past?” Kairos asked his first mate.

“Only Moros,” Cassandra replied. “Achlys isn’t as isolationist as the Cyclopean Islands, but few are allowed to visit their hidden cities. If you want to recruit amazon mercenaries, you will only find them in Moros.”

Kairos looked at the skies. The distant sun had started vanishing beneath the mountains, turning the blue sky red. 

"We will trail the coast north towards this city, but prepare for the worst,” he said, before glancing at Andromache. Since the Argo attacked ships with [Witches] onboard, the ghost ship would come after her first. Kairos wondered if she minded her role as a lure.

Andromache responded with a scornful sneer. “If Jason comes for my head, I will finish what his wife couldn't.”

She didn’t mind.

Once the whole crew gathered on the deck, Kairos cleared his throat and faced his men. Rook waited at his feet, while Cassandra stood at his left. The crew had rested during the day, to stay fresh for a night attack.

“Nightfall is upon us, and with luck, this means we might encounter the Argo,” the captain declared. “Let us review our strategy one last time.”

“You mistake bad luck for good fortune, oh my captain,” Nessus said, hands behind his head. “Though I guess if we die, we can follow through with chasing Queen Persephone in the Underworld.”

Kairos ignored the remark. “We have practiced anti-undead drills in the last few days, but let us see how much you learned. What are the most common weaknesses of these creatures?”

“Fire, light, and holy weapons,” answered a raider called Toothless Longarus. This brown-skinned warrior was past sixty, a venerable age for a Travian pirate; his pepper beard and battle scars attested that age had not dimmed his skills.

“Fire, light, and holy weapons,” Cassandra confirmed. “Most ailments are useless against the living dead, and they resist elements like frost.”

The last part bothered Kairos greatly. The undead’s poison immunity made his most potent weapon useless, and his [Heartseeker] Skill only helped against living creatures. [Spellblade], his magical spear, and [Leadership] would help the [Hero] carry his weight in the battle, but he felt inadequate nonetheless.

“It’s okay, Kairos,” Rook reassured his partner upon sensing his unease. “I will protect you.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Kairos replied with a smirk. He had Rhadamanthe [Bless] water amphoras alongside the crew’s weapons. Rook, Horace, and other flyers would drop the containers on the Argo, repeating the same tactic that proved so effective against the Orthian fleet.

“Undead feel neither fear nor pain,” Cassandra continued drilling the crew. “Don’t lower your guard even if they stop moving. As long as the corpse hasn’t turned to dust, a shade may rise again to stab you in the back. If you can’t burn the remains, toss them overboard or hack them to pieces.”

“My [Sanctuary] Spell will prevent any [Common] undead or daemons from boarding us, or [Elites] below my current level,” Rhadamanthe declared. “I reached level forty recently.”

“It won’t repel [Hero] Rank foes, or capped [Elites],” Kairos said. Andromache had also shielded the Foresight with protective wards, and her fire rods should prove effective against most shades and skeletons.

“Nor will it stop spells and arrows,” Rhadamanthe added. “If [Sanctuary] is disrupted by the enemy, I will need a few minutes of uninterrupted focus to cast it again. In which case, I will need protection.”

“Four of us will always stay around Rhadamanthe to protect him,” Cassandra said. “The undead are fearless but not stupid. They will certainly identify the [Priest] among us as a threat to prioritize.”

“That’s all well and good, but we aren’t hunting the usual ghost-ship and skeleton crew, oh my captain,” Nessus pointed out. “We’re fighting the shades of [Heroes].”

“I had Rhadamanthe, Andromache, and Tiberius research the Argonauts,” Kairos said, looking at the officers in question. “Andromache?”

The witch shook her head. “Even in my time, conflicting myths abounded on the Argonauts... but I can tell who wasn’t among them. Theseus, Odysseus, Achilles, Ajax, and the heroes of the Trojan War were born after Jason’s journey. I also know the Argo included eighty-seven sailors, including fifty rowers.”

Many let out sighs of relief when Andromache mentioned Achilles’ name. Few would dare to challenge the invulnerable man. Rhadamanthe also seemed happy when Theseus’ name came up; this son of Poseidon had slain the first minotaur and nearly wiped out the whole species.

Kairos noticed Tiberius was dying to speak up, but still too shy to do so on his own. The captain invited him to take the lead. “Tiberius.”

“Yes, Lord Kairos.” The aide-de-camp cleared his throat, before reading a scroll. “Lord Rhadamanthe and I inferred the identity of some of the Argonauts, based on the crew’s tactics. According to survivors, the Argo always announces its presence with a song inflicting [Terror] and [Paralysis]. Many drop their weapons before the dead even board.”

“My [Leadership 3] should protect us from [Terror],” Kairos added. “As for [Paralysis], I brewed an antidote that will help you resist the ailment for two hours.”

The captain nodded at Tiberius, inviting the young man to continue. “After the initial debuff, the Argo’s crew usually softens the enemy crew before boarding. Survivors saw daemons fly with the vessel, golden arrows, and two horsemen whose ghostly mounts ran on water.”

“The riders must be Castor and Pollux, the Gemini,” Andromache said. “The mortal Castor rode like a centaur on horseback, and the immortal Pollux defeated kings in boxing contests.”

Nessus shrugged. “Well they’re both dead, so Pollux’s immortality was clearly exaggerated.”

“His shade may still keep some spark of his invulnerability, so leave him to me,” Kairos said.

“The singer is certainly the bard Orpheus,” Rhadamanthe said, his voice heavy, “and the golden archer Atalanta.”

This made Cassandra frown. “I thought she wasn’t allowed onto the crew, because she could cause unrest among the crew as the only woman?”

“Women make up half our crew, dear Cassandra,” Nessus pointed out. “Though I would prefer three quarters at least.”

Old myths came with so many variations, it became difficult to find the kernel of truth among the rumors. “The sons of the north wind, the Boreas, also sailed with the Argo in all tales we could find,” Rhadamanthe said. “Their wings allowed them to fly and create winds.”

Kairos glanced at his [Anemoi Spear]. The weapon once belonged to the wind deities whose name it bore, Boreas the North Wind among them. He wondered how his sons’ shades would react to it.

However, there was one potential crew member that nobody dared to name. The one Kairos dreaded above all else.

In the end, it was a grim, helot archer who breached the subject.

“What about Heracles?”

The mere name silenced everyone on the Foresight. The arrogant Andromache crossed her arms, suddenly a lot less confident. Cassandra’s face turned into a stone mask, and though they couldn’t understand the conversation, the Stymphalian birds all tensed up at the warrior’s mention.

Even beasts recognized Heracles’ name.

“I heard that he served on the Argo alongside his servant Hylas, only for nymphs to abduct the latter,” the archer continued when none answered his question. “When Heracles took too long to find his friend, the Argonauts left them behind. Could their specters sail with the Argo?”

To Kairos’ surprise, Nessus decided to speak up with surprising calm. “Don’t worry, my fellow bowman. Even if the God of Strength partnered with Jason for a while, his shade won’t attack us tonight.”

“How can you be sure?” Tiberius asked with a frown.

“Think about it. This is a Quest to ascend to [Hero] Rank. Dear Cassandra is meant to fight foes she can win against, and Heracles is not one of them. The Moira only give challenges where one can prevail.”

Kairos found the logic plausible, if flimsy. Tiberius didn’t seem convinced, but nobody wanted to even consider the idea of fighting Heracles. The Satyr’s words had calmed their fears, a little at least.

“From what we know, sinking the ship will prove a temporary solution,” Kairos declared. “The Argo will rise again the next night. Something sustains its curse.”

“Probably Jason,” Cassandra guessed. “As long as he remains, his ship will recover.”

Her captain nodded in response. “Jason probably causes the Argo to ‘heal’ from its wounds as his Legendary Item, much like my presence allows the Foresight to rebuild itself. We must focus our efforts on slaying the undead captain first and foremost.”

However, since the Argo’s crew trumped the Foresight’s in power, they would have to avoid close combat at all costs. “We will not board,” Kairos explained his plan, “We will do our best to maintain a wide distance and bombard them with spells, arrows, and ballistae. We will use flames and magic to slowly deplete the enemy crew. If they do manage to board us, we go straight for Jason. Whoever slays the other first wins.”

In short, they would use the tactic they should have used against Pelopidas. Deny their foes a straight fight.

As the crew dispersed to prepare for a night ambush, Cassandra whispered into her captain’s ear, “You truly think we can win this?”

“This tactic worked out the first time,” Kairos replied. “The Argonauts are stronger than us, but we are better prepared.”

“The first time we had hydra venom, and our foes didn’t expect a fight.”

Kairos smiled in response, though his lips didn’t reach his eyes. Privately, he admitted their odds were slim. Even all the preparation in the world could only do so much, when facing foes with such overwhelming power.

But the captain couldn’t show anxiety. His crew’s morale demanded that Kairos seemed invincible, always with a plan in mind. Doubt and fear killed as many lives as steel swords. “You will not die a second time,” he reassured Cassandra. “I promise you that.”

“Once was enough,” she replied with a grim look.

The sun soon vanished, casting the Sunsea into darkness. The new moon was black as coal, the stars’ light dimming in the skies. The Foresight’s crew needed to use torches to see, while Andromache summoned a floating sphere of flames to guide the ship’s way.

Kairos’ [Seamanship] Skill informed him of a danger near the coast, his eyes wandering to a stony cove; the Karkinos den which Horace warned them against. The Foresight maintained a healthy distance away from this area, and moved north. The captain glimpsed a settlement’s lights in that direction. They would reach Moros with—

A sharp pain in Kairos’ left hand interrupted his trail of thoughts.

The bone ring on his hand burnt to the touch, like hot iron. “What is this?” Kairos whispered to himself, observing his magical item with [Magical Knack]. Andromache, who had been busy distributing fire rods to the crew, sensed his unease and joined him.

“Someone is using a divination spell on you, my other half,” Andromache warned, her fingers brushing against Kairos. The bone ring seemed to tighten at her touch. “[Scrying].”

The Achlysians spied on them? Did the ambassador give him that ring for this purpose? “Can you stop the effect?” Kairos asked.

“I…” The Scylla frowned in shock and surprise. “The caster’s level trumps my own.”

And she was pushing fifty.

Kairos had a terrible intuition about this, doubly so when [Seamanship 3] activated again. A chilling sensation raced down his spine, warning him of a sea hazard behind the Foresight. A frost as cold as winter, the promise of a terrible death.

A faint song echoed across the waters, so low Kairos could barely hear it.

A song played on a lyre.

Kairos had never heard such a dreadful melody. The tune sounded like a widow’s lament, an orphan’s cry for help. Each note felt like a dagger to the heart.

“Everyone to their post!” Cassandra shouted upon hearing the melody, immediately realizing the danger. “Take your antidote, buff yourselves, and prepare for battle!”

Kairos let her bark orders to the crew, moving to the ship’s back to observe the enemy.

The music ended for a split second, only to resume once a ship emerged from the ocean’s depths. The slow rhythm accelerated, turning the slow melody into a stressful war song. The vessel had risen six to seven hundred meters behind the Foresight, and from afar, could be mistaken for a white galley.

A closer look revealed its true, ghastly nature.

Large, wriggling bones made up the hull of that terrible vessel. Most belonged to humans bound together by spasming muscles, but Kairos also recognized the spines of sea serpents and other abyssal creatures among them. An armor of shining barnacles served as the ship’s ram, and unnaturally long femurs as the oars.

Rotting sails of human skin hung from chalky masts topped by a Cetus’ skull. Green balls of ghostly fire floated around both, the faint image of a grinning skull flashing within the flames’ heart. Bloody specters followed in their wake, but the skeletons of reptilian humanoids toiled on the deck, raising swords and axes.

The ghost ship’s crew let out a fearsome wail, and the song of the damned echoed across the waves. The waters around the vessel turned dark red, and Kairos recognized their ghastly stench.

The Argo had come to hunt the living, sailing on a sea of blood.

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A/N: chapter made possible by you, dear patrons.